Looks like diesel engines will be phased out sooner than expected. News just in that Volvo’s latest generation of diesel engines could be its last because the cost of reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide is becoming too expensive, CEO Hakan Samuelsson was quoted as saying on Wednesday this week.
“From today’s perspective, we will not develop any more new generation diesel engines,” Samuelsson remarked. However, a Volvo spokesman said on Wednesday that Samuelsson had been discussing options rather than a firm plan to stop the further development of diesel engines.
Samuelsson later said in a statement that he believed diesel would still play a crucial role in the next few years in helping the company meet targets to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, being more fuel-efficient than petrol engines.
“We have just launched a brand new generation of petrol and diesel engines, highlighting our commitment to this technology. As a result, a decision on the development of a new generation of diesel engines is not required,” he said. Diesel cars account for over 50% of all new registrations in Europe, making the region by far the world’s biggest diesel market. Volvo, owned by China’s Geely, sells 90% of its XC 90 SUVs in Europe with diesel engines.
Samuelsson also said Volvo would continue improving the current range, first introduced in 2013, to meet future emissions standards, with production likely to go on until about 2023.
And until 2020 he said diesel would be needed to help meet carbon dioxide emission limits set by the European Union, but after that other regulations would come into play, with the costs of making engines compliant with ever higher anti-pollution standards meaning it would no longer be worth it.
Instead, Volvo will invest in the electric and hybrid cars, with its first pure electric model due on the market in 2019. Samuelsson has previously said that tighter emissions rules will push up the price of diesel-engined cars to the point where plug-in hybrids will become an attractive alternative.
The average carbon dioxide emissions limit for European carmakers’ fleets will need to fall from 130 grams per kilometer to 95 grams in 2021, forcing them to invest more in exhaust emissions technology.
